Black Depths
by Oceanbreeze7
Summary: Challenge; Tony didn't hate Bangladesh, he just liked knowing every possibility, ever variable about everything, every risk he was taking. Going to Bangladesh? That wasn't calculated. Nor was what he was going to do if they found him again..."Are you ready to accept death, Tony Stark?" Raza hummed, "I'm ready to accept the vision of your corpse on the ground."


**_Hey! Anyways, this challenge was given to me by the AMAZING AllieKatheryn, Who made this difficult Challenge Possible!_**

**_ (Not to mention that she lives on the other side of the world from me, as well as on opposite sides of the Equator...jeeze, time slots were hard...)_**

**_Anyways, i hope you enjoy this, it was a HUGE blast writing it! Anyways, i'd say something really cool in her native language, but i'm completely at lost._**

**_Thanks! Hope you enjoy our work together!_**

* * *

_"Denied."_

Tony glared at the screen; changing the status of the mission Fury had been continuously pestering the Avengers about- an investigation somewhere in Bangladesh.

It wasn't that he had something purposely against Bangladesh- it was a beautiful country. He was rather partial to the beautiful scenery and the lush forests. The fact that the country was under-developed helped add to the counter argument of visiting Bangladesh to investigate 'suspicious activities' over there.

He wasn't going. Ever.

His lips twitched as the large red flashing words of 'denied' on the file. _There,_ he'd give the idiots working at SHIELD 4 hours before they managed to unscramble the coding to access the file once more, then he'd just repeat the cycle over and over, until Fury got it through his thick skull that he wasn't going to Eastern India, or anything nearby.

He watched the code scramble a little on the screen, obviously some technician had noticed and Fury was now trying his best to unscramble it.

_"Sir, an oncoming message from Director Fury."_

Tony sighed, rolling his eyes and waving Jarvis on while looking and considering another shot of Gin, yet again, he had to remain sober to make sure he didn't agree to go.

_"Stark! Goddamn it! Unblock that file right now!"_

"No thanks, I like it locked up, all tight and cozy." Tony drawled back, giving the evil eye to the Gin before turning on his swivel chair, watching the idiots mess up the code and miss an entire chain of complex equations.

_"You're going to Baghdad if I have anything to say about it!" _Fury growled, teeth gritting on the other side.

"Bangladesh, actually." Tony dryly corrected, and his lips curled into an amused grin as he heard him start shouting for the code to be fixed faster, thus more mistakes.

He chuckled lowly as Fury hung up on him, and swiped the bottle, waltzing his way up the stairs to place it back at his main bar- it was nice when everything he wanted was in one location.

He set the bottle down, moving back towards the stairs where he'd probably check where the fools were on the code before making a new one that made their screens change colour every four seconds. _That_ would make it harder by far.

"Still arguing with Fury?"

Tony turned; hand mock pressed against his Arc Reactor as he jumped in surprise, eyes meeting the calculating icy green eyes met his.

"How long you've been sitting there, itsy bitsy spider?" He smirked, and Natasha blinked slowly.

"Long enough to know that you're still putting up a fight. Useless, but amusing." Natasha stated, rising from the couch nearest the bar and walking over menacingly.

"Useless? Are you implying that my charm doesn't work on part-blind men?" He smirked, and Natasha scowled slightly.

"The director is going to gain your cooperation on this mission, even if he has to ship you to Bangladesh in a UPS box."

"Rather pointless- I think FedEx is faster." Tony responded with a grin, Natasha huffing in annoyance before smoothly moving past him towards the stairs that spiraled through all of the Avenger floors.

"Why is it you seem so resistant to travel to Bangladesh?" Natasha asked from the stairway, eyes narrowed and lips pursed slightly, and Tony had to force back the instinctive feeling to tighten his shoulders.

"Eh- no tech there. It's hard to relax when they have no idea what a laptop is." He grinned, and Natasha's eyes narrowed, noticing several flaws but refusing to act upon them as she trotted away on padded feet.

In truth, Tony didn't want to go to Bangladesh, because he and Jarvis had been keeping track of a small group of people. He didn't know where they were, and when Tony didn't know where things were, he usually didn't risk things.

He knew the percentage of failing on everything he did, running his mental calculator before every turn or repulsor fire. He knew the habits of Pepper and Happy, he knew he quips Rhodey would use, and after a while, he knew each and every reaction every Avenger would have to a certain situation. (Yes, he was maybe a little controlling in that aspect)

But for this, Tony didn't know _where_ they were. And what he didn't know, he didn't risk.

_"Sir? Director Fury has bypassed the firewalls you have placed. He has also deleted all record from databanks. I am lead to conclude that he now holds a digital copy, or a paper copy."_

Tony looked up with a blink, a frown pressed on his lips as he realized just what he meant. He couldn't stall anymore.

"Really? Damn- do another satellite scan. If we're going out there, I might as well have a thermal image." Tony added, making his way towards the lab.

_"Of course. I assume you will be taking the Mark VII?"_

"Yeah." Tony nodded, punching in a code and swinging the glass doors open, walking over to his chair as said suit had the glowing lights presented on it, the paint glossy and sleek and all of the metal fixed from his recent battles.

"…Jarvis, how much extra room do we have in the suit?" Tony asked after a brief pause of which he was observing a hologram of the suit.

_"Sir? Please re-phrase the question."_

"Just- project all open spots between the wiring and the circuitry of the suit." Tony phrased, and immediately the blue glow moved, showing small inch gaps in some spots running alongside major wires and sensors on the back, thigh, and along his ribs.

"There- can you reroute the wires to wrap around the hamstrings and leave the side exposed?" Tony pointed, plucking strings on the diagram.

_"Sir?"_

"I- do you think that there's enough room to fit a gun in?" Tony asked, and Jarvis' pause was the only thing that gave away his surprise.

_"Only a select amount of artillery would be able to fit in such area."_

"But it can- right? Something small can fit." Tony sighed, releasing a breath while Jarvis shifted the circuits on the hologram, showing a small area on the side of his right thigh, just large enough for a small gun.

_"Weapons on file that would be fitted include the F180 Slimshot." _Jarvis reported, the small sleek black gun appearing on a slow rotation, and Tony remembered that one well- only gun able to actually _fold_ into a small area for best mobility on stealth missions.

"No- what about the- the Stark Industries K16?" Tony asked, and Jarvis pulled up the gun.

_"Will that be with, or without the silencer, Sir?"_

"Without." Tony responded, watching as the gun noticeably shrank, but still was too bulky to fit inconspicuously.

_"The UM compact?" _A small pistol device that made a painful blast, but took a long reload time due to the oddly designed bullets.

"No, what about…the unreleased one- the Freeline." Tony asked, not particularly liking the gun while Jarvis was silent.

_"Sir, that artillery has been untested-"_

"Just pull it up." Tony sighed, and the small gun appeared circling a few times while Tony observed the body and design, seeing how it fit in the body.

"How much of the space does it cover?" Tony asked, spinning the hologram around.

_"The Freeline has taken up 83.54% of all available space."_

"Good- think there's enough space to make an ejection slot?" Tony asked, frowning as he looked at the design.

_"Planning hand to hand combat, sir?"_

Tony didn't smile, eyes slightly shadowed as he looked at the weapon, the hologram now fitting an ejection device.

"…Something like that."

x-(X)-x

Tony sat, leaning against the wall of the Quinjet as the others lounged next to him. His posture in the clunky red and gold gave the illusion of him sleeping, but in all actuality he was having Jarvis scan once more for thermal imaging nearby their location, praying that they wouldn't have t confront…them.

"Tony- wake up." Clint snapped, clapping his hands loudly in front of Tony's visor.

_"Sir, I'd advise responding." _Jarvis noted and Tony sighed, lifting himself upright while the metal plates smoothly slid over one another, and he looked at Natasha who nodded to the Quinjet pilot.

"We're getting dropped off. A few miles from the radiation point." Natasha nodded and Steve frowned.

"We get in, get the readings and get out?" Steve asked, receiving a few nods.

"Please, Cap. You know this never ends up like that." Tony grumbled, walking towards the opening back hatch where the jet hovered a few feet off of the ground, in which Natasha and Clint landed in a smooth roll, Thor and Steve landing loudly and hard, while Bruce just used Steve to jump safely to the ground.

The Quinjet turned, the fast moving propellers causing the high tropical trees to sway as it took off, vanishing loudly.

"…We have a few hours. Stark, anyone nearby?" Steve asked, and Tony automatically sent out a quick moving scan.

"Nothing but bugs and birds." Tony responded, glaring at a loudly squawking parrot in displeasure.

"Eh- I've missed India." Bruce murmured; hand running across on obviously foreign tree that Tony had to _think_ to remember the name of.

"We're technically not in India-"Clint started but Tony snorted.

"Bangladesh- India. Not really that much of a difference, of course there's a parliamentary democracy here, but the economic systems are almost the same." Tony shrugged, and Natasha rolled her eyes, making her way stealthily through the forest, the others following and Tony twitching, sending thermal scans every twenty seconds just to save himself from paranoia.

They marched, eventually slowing and taking shelter behind a rock outcrop as Tony's thermal imaging finally picked up the images of two life forms, surrounding large boxes of something cooler then the air.

"Guys- two men up ahead, two hundred feet." Tony muttered, and Steve gave a nod, lifting his arms as they snuck slowly towards the edge, every step put precisely in a spot where it would make the least amount of sound.

"Got it- Clint?" Steve asked, and Clint already was sorting through arrows.

"Want them drugged, knocked out, or dead?" he asked blankly, eyes focused on a gap between trees.

"Drugged, we still need to question them." Steve added, and Clint gave a slight nod, eyes focused on the distance as he quickly strung a long black arrow, pulling it taut as his fingers brushed his chin before he let it fly- hand a blur as he strung and let the mirror other fly.

A few muffled sounds later and the stillness was astounding before Clint gave a curt nod and he and Natasha silently slipped into the thick foliage like a pair of jaguars, the much louder Iron Man suit clanking into view and the clumsy Asgardian stumbling around small bushes while Bruce followed hesitantly in the crumpled path.

Clint was squatted over the crumpled men, arrows just stuck to the edge of their thigh, enough that it wouldn't hinder movement too much. They both were sprawled in the rotting leaves, thick red bandannas covering the top half of their head while another darker brown one covered their mouth, matching in colour to the odd work garb they wore, shells and broken rounds peeking from the torn pockets, and one of the men's sleeves were stained with something similar to a rusty brown blood.

"They're out." Clint nodded, rolling one limp man over where Steve gave a curt nod, looking towards the large base with a few dozen boxes that were covered in a dirty canvas sheet, in which a few dozen insects and butterflies clung to.

"Wait-" Natasha spoke, pulling on one of the man's brown bandanna over his mouth, frowning as she noticed the long scar that trailed down his cheek and chin in the shape of a burn and ripped trail.

"What's that?" Steve asked, nodding to the scar as Bruce shuffled forward, frowning as he traced the scar tissue area.

"It- it looks like a burn. But a burn with scar tissue shaped like this would have to have been something hot enough to cut _and_ burn away the skin." Bruce frowned, and Tony stared.

"Jarvis- calculate." He murmured inside his suit, as images and other pictures of flaming metal wounds, none matched up as easily as he wished.

"What's the melting point of Palladium?" He stated quietly, and once he noticed the temperature (1,552 C) all thoughts relating to tech vanished.

He then noticed everyone's eyes on him.

"Err- sorry. What was the question?" He asked, and Steve gave a sigh as Natasha dryly stated the question again.

"What metal has the lowest melting point in a compressed area?" She dryly spoke, and Tony felt his eyebrows lift.

"You don't know?" He asked, astonished as Bruce shrugged and Tony sighed.

"Phosphorus, Babbitt, Le-"

"Never mind." Natasha snapped, and she let the guy go, he slumped to the ground, long scar pale white in the sunlight.

Something about that scar…was _familiar._

"Stark?" Clint asked, making his way towards the boxes with Natasha, obviously looking at the 'suspicious substance' SHIELD had sent them in for.

"Yeah- I'll be there in a second." Tony called, flipping the faceplate upwards as he looked at the other man, dragging him over and exposing his face, this one was unblemished.

He frowned, tugging the bandanna around his neck further down until he saw a large display of a long reddish pink area that looked similar to an acid burn. It had long since healed, but the skin didn't cover it properly, causing it to have the texture of eroded sandstone.

Tony stared, looking at the wound that was _so similar _to an explosion mark it almost hurt.

"Tony?"

He glanced up, looking at Bruce who was looking at him in worry- he was becoming a paranoid fool…

"Yeah, I'm coming." Tony sighed, rising from the forest floor.

"Good- you might want to see this." Natasha spoke, and Tony turned, eyes wide as he saw the destruction. Natasha had managed to hack open one of the dry wooden crates, looking at whatever was inside.

"What is it?" Steve called, and Clint peeked over, giving out a low whistle as he gingerly lifted out some sort of long weapon.

Tony stiffened.

He looked at it, lifting a single eyebrow as he ran his fingers over the cool metal and the long barrel that hooked to a complicated looking mechanism, all maintaining a rather epic look to the long riffle.

"What is that?" Steve asked quietly, trying to hide the awe as such a beautifully looking weapon.

"I can honestly say- I have no idea." Clint stated, holding it up and pressing his chin to the scope, blinking in surprise at how evenly set and measured it was.

"It's a XJ Nightwing." Tony stiffly stated, moving over and peering into the box, jaw clicking quietly as he noticed four more in the packaging, as well as a few dozen other weapons that he was sure fit inside the numerous boxes around here.

"So what- this thing illegal on the market or something? We find some weapon smugglers?" Clint asked, clicking open the cartridge spot and blinking at the odd design, (One of the few guns that could alternate between two different clips)

"Something like that." Tony responded in a clipped voice, eyes narrowing as he ripped the nails out of one box as he yanked it open- this one full of dozens of cartons of rounds and shells for the many guns set here.

"Let's contact SHIELD and tell them about these." Steve sighed, reaching awkwardly for the communicator he had been forced to keep on his ear.

"True, we should contact the Man of-"Thor started before halting, eyes narrowing slightly, throwing Bruce for the loop.

"What is it, big guy?" Tony asked, still angry as he grabbed a few handguns he recognized _too_ well, and crushed them in his metal fists.

"…I believe I felt a disturbance. I must have been wrong." Thor stated, looking rather baffled himself as Clint frowned, setting the gun back down and snapping out his bow before looking around warily.

Then, Bruce noticed it.

"Hey guys…what happened to all of the birds?" He asked, and everybody turned, backs to Bruce as they held out their respectable weapons as the suddenly overpowering sounds of guns loading echoed off of every available surface as suddenly men and pointed barrels were targeted on them.

"It's a trap." Natasha hissed lowly, quickly loading her pistols as an explosive arrow found its way on Clint's bow. Thor's hammer was held at the ready, Steve had his shield ready to throw, and Bruce was all tensed, ready for a moment's notice.

Tony…Tony simply stared before pushing past the group, standing between them and the semi-circle of men with guns.

Oh, how Tony was mentally beating himself up right then. The melting point of Palladium, 2,825 degrees Fahrenheit.

A flamethrower gave off 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit. Palladium would be the only metal that would still be solid, and hot enough to cut, burn, and create a scar like that.

Oh, he was an _idiot._

They stared, and Tony said nothing but watched with an icy look in his eyes. He shrugged off Clint who quickly tried to pull the metal coated man back, and ignored Steve's sharp hiss of '_Tony!'_

Tony stared.

The ranks of men eventually started to shift, moving from foot to foot in anxiety and in worry, eyes flicking to one another as they spoke in hushed voices in a language unable to be understood under the thick brown bandannas over their mouth.

And finally, the crowd parted.

Steve noticed how all the guns weren't aimed exactly on him and Thor (The two most intimidating and the most shot at) but instead trailed Tony, only two or three pointing to the remaining Avengers as a whole.

A single man walked forward, clothes just slightly in better condition, a large gun strapped to his hip as he stalked forward, eyes sliding catlike over to Tony who noticed the black bandanna over his head, matching his black uniform.

He halted, hands intertwined behind his back as he blinked slyly, and Tony stared icy. His face was emotionless, but finally he spoke, breaking the silence.

"So you're alive." He stated in a drawl, and the man's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Indeed. Your friend was of no help when he decided to turn his back on us." The man stated, a few men behind flinching as if it was specifically a bad memory.

Tony tensed, and Steve frowned. What friend?

"Yeah, well, that man's dead now." Tony replied with ease, in which the other man gave a slow nod with a brief flicker of a smile.

"Interesting. I assumed that you were close to this man, surely it was not you who commenced his death, yet you had no problem with the manslaughter of our ranks." The man hummed, and Tony twitched ever so slightly.

"That's not important." Tony breezily responded, all the while the team behind him watching in baffled silence.

"Oh, isn't it? I'd find it rather frustrating how a father figure would attempt to kill you…_twice._" He hummed, and Tony stared, not letting his temper to rise.

"True, that would frustrate anyone, is that why you're always so cranky, Raza? Too many employers backstabbing you?"

Tony drawled, and Raza frowned, giving a cold smile.

"Perhaps. Paranoia does benefit in such business. Yet again, Paranoia has saved me on several accounts. You seem to lack it, _ahmoqlik." _He spat, and Tony tilted his head slightly, a tiny smile on his lips.

"Uzbek? Fool? Is that the best insult you have? No wonder it was so easy to escape if you lack the brains to keep even a chicken in." Tony snarled.

"Then how were we able to hold _you_ for three months?" Raza snarled back, and Tony gritted his teeth.

In the back, Steve was exchanging looks with his team, Bruce's eyes were large as he watched, Clint and Natasha were both emotionless but obviously in shock, or in surprise. Thor had his fist clenched and his gaze icy as he watched.

"How was I able to escape? Under _guard_ and _supervision?"_ Tony asked, and this time, the man growled.

"With the death of the doctor. What was his name- Yase? Yaso-"

"Yinsen." Tony snapped, and Raza smirked, teeth showing like a shark on a blood trail.

Behind him, Natasha looked at Clint in alarm- _that man was baiting him!_ She mentally shouted, and Clint nodded, having noticed it to.

"And Hell knows Yinsen is worth _a million_ of you." Tony spat, thick goop of phlegm and spit hitting Raza's shoe, who casually rubbed it off on a nearby huge fern.

"Possibly. I should have killed the doctor the moment his use was used." Raza stated, eyes drifting to the glowing circle in the centre of Tony's suit.

"And I should have killed you the moment you walked in." Tony growled, and a quiet stalemate started.

They stared, and Raza said nothing. His men did not move and the only sound were the loudly shrieking birds, who hated the intrusion on their nearby nests.

They shuffled, Bruce looking desperately at Steve, waiting for his queue that would probably not come for a while.

"Tony- what." Steve started but Tony help up one hand, showing him to stay back, that this was _his_ fight.

"Oh, have a group to fight your own battles for you?" Raza quizzed, and Tony was near pouncing on the next thing that moved in anger.

"The reason you have goons, is because you're too weak to fight someone straight on like a _man._ You rely on replaceable troops to do your dirty work, because you don't know _how."_ He snarled, and Raza's eyes flickered with hate.

"You'll pay for tha-" Raza started to snarl before Tony cut him off.

"You and me. A fight for honor- I know you do that. You are extremists who use their religion as an excuse to bloodshed; surely you do follow that same religion when it comes to tradition. You would not dare warp the commands of your Prophet, would you?" Tony snarled, and Raza growled, his troops shifting, unsure as to what to do.

"Tony- Are you sure that-"Steve started but a fierce almost rabid look at the man had Steve pausing in surprise. The others just looked surprised at the sudden religious statement- when had Tony taken time to learn that?

"Fine." Raza snarled, eying the shiny red and gold, "Without the suit."

"What? You afraid to-"Clint started but a hissed _'Shut up Clint!'_ From Natasha had him stopping into silence.

"Of course. You honestly think I'd challenge you in the very thing that nearly killed you before?" Tony snorted, stepping forward and at once, the metal started to unwind, sliding into thicker plates as it traveled down his body, and seemingly out of nowhere, a sleek gun was picked up.

Raza eyed him, grabbing the gun from a nearby troop's hand, and Tony recognized the model from one he had to fix a trigger issue with.

"An R-41?" Tony mused quietly, stepping out from the ring of metal that would activate as soon as it sensed his feet again, and he drew his own gun, the Freeline, and open the cartages. Indeed it was stocked with the bullets, but it hadn't been _overly _tested…

Tony rather liked experimenting. And on most times when his life was on the line, he was.

"You and me, no interference." Tony stated, eyes drifting to the many men on the sidelines with guns still pointed at him.

"Of course, we have honor, Tony Stark. Any help in this duel will cheapen my victory. You know it, I know it and they know it. One of them interfere, they would be dead men walking." Raza hissed, affronted by the request.

Tony briefly heard someone behind him whisper _'That's sick.'_ But he quickly ignored it, as Raza shouted at the men in a sharp guttural voice that made Tony flinch. The men moved their guns to the Avengers, and Raza gave a pointed look to Tony, who shifted ever so slightly, understanding what the man was implying.

"Guys. Whatever happens, do _not_ interfere." Tony growled, backing up so he was finally next to them without letting his eyes leave Raza's.

"Tony, what are you-" Clint started before a hand on Clint's shoulder shut him up. Clint looked up to see Thor, who looked grim but understood.

"Of course, Friend Stark. I shall let none other interfere with your battle of honor." Thor nodded, and Tony gave a small smile.

Of course, only _Thor_ would understand.

"Wait, you're fighting that man, we don't know who he is! He could be a mu-"Steve started but Natasha gave a slight shake of her head.

"His name's Raza. He's from Afghanistan and part of an organization known as the Ten Rings." Tony stated coldly, walking forward where Raza had removed his headband, looking the distorted flesh with a grimace.

"Complementary of you." Raza noted, swooshing his hand near the destroyed part of his head, in which Tony said nothing, causing Clint to strain to see the wound better.

Tony took one slow step to the right, and Raza mimicked his movements, turning like two lions ready to pounce and rip each other's throats out.

They turned, and Tony ran his finger over the cold metal of the killer weapon in his hand, feeling the familiar weight he used to carry, and almost hearing Obbie's praise as he destroyed yet another target…

But he wasn't at a shooting range, nor was he trying out a new gun in his lab.

His back was to Raza's men, and he still felt not a hint of worry- Raza would not throw in a cheap shot. He'd abide the rules Tony set.

Now Tony only had to hope his teammates would also.

Thor held one arm, putting it in front of Steve who looked alarm. One stern look from Thor and all thoughts of reaching out to smack Tony's foe vanished with a dry swallow.

Tony's eyes didn't waver as they circled, and eventually, he stopped, Raza stopping also, now 90 degrees to the right of their original position, horizontal on the playing field.

Raza pulled the gun and just as Tony pointed his own, Raza's smirk and slight huff of glee as he noticed that Tony's weapon's barrel was a significant length shorter.

"Are you ready to accept death, Tony Stark?" Raza hummed, eyes flicking to the gun in his hand while Tony's eyes and face betrayed nothing.

"I'm ready to accept the vision of your corpse on the ground." Tony dryly stated, and Raza's lips twitched.

"That is rather…_twisted, _of you, Mr. Stark." Raza stated, lips curling into some sort of dark twisted form of a grin.

Steve was completely expecting Tony to snort, possibly throw back an insult on how hypocritical that was.

Clint and Natasha were expecting him to shrug it off like he usually did.

"Yeah, well…Evil is a matter of perspective." Tony stated coldly, causing Steve to flinch while Clint let out a strangled breath.

"Evil? That is how you proclaim your actions?" Raza asked, part amused and part offended.

Tony's lips twitched when he responded, clicking the safety of his weapon back as Raza did the same.

"When concerns of men have plummeted far enough that they resort to fighting hate with hate- _that_ is when evil spawns." Tony stated, and held his gun; Raza frowned, and held his own.

A baited breath of silence.

_Cli-_

Tony _moved._

Tony _knew_ that gun, that gun took a longer time then his others to actually fire, long enough for him to twist to the left, reaching out with his left arm to grab the cool metal of the other's barrel. He didn't flinch as the kickback recoiled and he grasped tighter, his ears ringing from such a loud sound.

Raza's face was next to him, and Tony jerked the other's gun down, slamming the butt of his own up into the jaw of Raza's with a satisfying _click_ of teeth on teeth, possibly chipping or even breaking a few as the metal collided with flesh covered bone.

Raza snarled, swinging his gun up as the butt hit Tony hard In the ribs, his breath being knocked out of him as he clenched his teeth shut, grabbing the gun and twisting it, forcing Raza to spin, just as one steel towed combat boot from Tony (always the best) slammed into the back of his knees, forcing Raza down while Tony drew his right arm back and let it hit _hard_ against the closest thing he could reach- which happened to be Raza's nose.

Raza choked, clumsily thrashing with his gun as he let off another fire of his gun, not aimed and if it did anything, it only deafened Tony to the obvious shouts of his team, watching in horror as he took it out brutally.

Raza's nose was pouring blood from the disfigured twist in it; his breaths were through his mouth as he obviously had no ability to breathe through his nose.

Tony twisted, throwing his body weight on Raza who was already on his knees, forcing him to the ground with his gun trapped under him, pinning his arm painfully under him which he hissed loudly, eyes watching Tony with some sort of fury but grim acceptance as he saw the gun, pointed towards his head.

Tony had one foot on Raza's back; who was breathing heavily, blood running down the latter's face while Tony's breaths were in wheezes, the ribs straining from where they were probably cracked.

"Okay Tony- that's enough." Steve stated lowly, and Tony didn't look up, Natasha looking at Clint in alarm as he saw.

Tony wasn't going to give this up.

"Come on Tony, we need them for questioning." Bruce spoke lowly, roles reversed as he tried to calm down Tony

Tony 's eyes were focused on Raza who looked up, eyes not breaking contact before the man underneath him grinned, showing pale pink teeth, stained with his blood as he seemed to laugh from under him.

"O'ldrmoq mi." The man spoke, voice distorted from the broken nose, and Tony's breath became heavier as he looked at Raza, who laughed a shaking distorted laugh.

His men shifted, not sure whether or not to shoot, and Raza barked something at them loudly, and they held back, and Tony shifted, pressing his metal toed foot further into the man's back.

"Friend Stark, you won…you can remove yourself now." Thor spoke lowly, and Tony said nothing, watching the man.

"Three months." Tony mused softly, and Raza met his eyes once again, letting out a slow breath as he knew he was about to die.

"What? Tony- put the gun _down."_ Steve stressed, a slightly panicking feeling setting in. Tony shifted, lowering himself to a near squat next to him, just inches away from Raza's scarred scalp.

"Tony! Stop it! You won already, put that damn thing _down!"_ Clint hissed from his side, feeling obviously hypocritical.

"Never thought I'd be able to kill you monsters after all this time." Tony muttered very calmly, _too calmly_, to Raza who let out a low chuckle.

"Monsters? Are you a little child, Stark?" He barked out, wincing as the added weight buried the gun under him more into his chest, digging in painfully.

"Children grow up when they realize that the monsters in their closest," Tony scoffed a low snort as he found it ironically funny "Turn out to be walking around in broad daylight, and eventually they don't even notice it until they look in a mirror." Tony mused, holding the gun and pressing the tip to Raza's temple, who shuddered, closing his eyes.

"You should die like Yinsen, bleeding out all over the floor and grinning at a friend in your last few moments, but you don't deserve it. You don't deserve anything less than this."

"Tony! N-"

A single shot ran out.

The Avengers stared, they had known Tony for a _long time,_ and he had _never_ killed a person without accident…_ever._

"Holy…" Clint breathed, and Tony got up, flipping the gun onto the ground as he walked towards the suit, not saying a word nor did he look back towards the right side of Raza's head which was more destroyed then any scarring on the left side could possibly manage.

A few seconds and snaps later, Tony was in the air, and finally, the other side seemed to snap out of their trance and horror at how their leader was now making a large noticeable puddle on the ground.

Bruce, who had just watched his best friend kill someone out of cold blood, not to mention he was dealing with terrorists, and just _shot_ at his friend…he couldn't hold it back.

Tony didn't look back as he heard the Hulk roar and destroy men, more men than he had just killed, even if it was in self protection.

Tony said nothing, even as the comm. link tried to open up, or when Fury tried to contact him, having noticed how Bruce vanished from the link.

He just kept flying.

x-(X)-x

When the Avengers returned, Tony had long since been at Stark (Avengers) Tower, simply sitting in his lab while he looked over the file that was being written at the moment as Fury impute it into the computer.

He found it…amusing; at how the others had lied, with the death of Raza.

_'One of the hired hands of the terrorist leaders misfired, causing the death of 'Raza'. Corpse is in storage.' _The file said.

Tony wanted to laugh, he honestly did.

The next few days were awkward, he knew the others wanted to ask him about it, or were frankly scared. He didn't care, at all.

He was sitting on the couch when Natasha walked in, quietly taking a seat across from him as the others went out to go to the local movies. Tony wasn't in the mood, and Natasha was nearly never comfortable in places that had a high public viewpoint.

It was silent, and he waited. He _knew_ that she'd ask a question, or say _something._ The only time that she could pin something on him.

"…Those were impressive moves. I somehow doubt that Hogan taught you them." Natasha spoke up in the near half hour of absolute silence.

Tony glanced up from the Starkpad he was on, sliding the device on the coffee table as he looked her in the eye.

"No one would ever expect you to fight back, without the suit." Natasha clarified, and Tony shrugged, meeting her in the eye.

"Isn't that the best weapon? One that's hidden well enough, and can strike faster than any bullet?" Tony mused, and Natasha's lips twitched slightly.

"We all have skeletons in our closet." She phrased, before picking up a remote and turning on the TV, and leaving Tony (Much to his shock and delight) alone.

Steve was the only one who had a question that stung deep.

_'Hey Tony? Who…who was Yinsen?'_

And Tony gave him a steady calm answer.

_'He was a doctor who lived in a small village in Afghanistan.'_

Tony wanted to say more, he wanted to but he never did. If he said more, Steve would ask questions, eventually bringing up the memories of screaming, begging for someone to just _kill him_ as they sawed his chest open- feeling them taking out bones and ribs and everything he needed to live.

Instead, Tony hummed, working away with a little thing for his suit.

_'He was a friend.'_

And Steve left after that.

Thor asked him a few days later if he felt any better with his successful challenge, and victory in battle.

_'Yes, but you don't want me to say that, do you big guy?'_

Tony just gave him a weak smile that could be taken many ways, and a small nod.

It was Clint who jumped down from the rafters with one eyebrow lifted when he saw Tony standing at the grid to SHEILD's furnaces. Tony was leaning against one of the walls, the heat seeping through the large seal as obviously; a roaring fire was taking place.

"Can I ask _why_, you just shoved something in the furna-" Clint stopped, seeing the ripped open body bag on the ground, crumpled and hastily shoved in the corner.

Clint blinked, looking at Tony who shrugged, looking at the fire before eventually looking back.

"A- a friend of mind believed in life after death…he believed that every action, every _decision,_ made on Earth had consequences. Well, consequences in the afterlife…He believed that all of us had to answer to a Greater Being, one that would judge whether man deserves Heaven or Hell…Burning the corpse is the tradition they follow, so that their soul may meet the Greater Being to be judged. I don't want Raza's _soul_ to wander on Earth, I want him to burn in Hell for eternity- and I've done my best so he does burn." Tony shrugged, eyes darkening as fists clench on themselves.

Clint doesn't ask anything, and covers for him later when Hill was frowning at the rotten smell of burning hair and flesh a few days later.

Out of everyone, Tony was the most concerned at how Bruce would take things.

He was in his lab when the codes let someone in, he didn't need to look up as he recognized the scuffling sound of Bruce's shuffle as he walked forward, standing right in front of Tony, who didn't look up.

"This doesn't change anything." Bruce stated softly, causing Tony to halt and look up, mostly surprised if anything.

"What?" He asked, baffled while Bruce shrugged.

"This doesn't change anything. You never asked about my personal life, I won't ask about yours." Bruce smiled; offering a hand as Tony stared, blinking owlishly.

"…You sure?" Tony asked with a frown, and Bruce offered a sheepish smile, that only _he_ could pull off.

"Thanks…" Tony breathed, shaking the offered hand before Bruce shuffled to his own part of the lab, quietly working.

_"Beware the dark pool at the bottom of our hearts. In its icy, black depths dwell strange and twisted creatures it is best not to disturb."_ Tony quotes quietly, Bruce turning and looking at him curiously from the other side of the room.

"Nothing- just some equations." Tony clarified with a masking grin while Bruce shrugged going back to work.

Nothing was odd, nothing was wrong.

Just two monsters at work.

* * *

**And Thanks again to _AllieKatheryn_, Who gave me the challenge, and also helped me on some of the religious statements.**

**Review! **

**~Oceanbreeze7**


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